CAIRO, January 17 (RIA Novosti) - Egyptian rescuers have recovered 25 bodies from the rubble of a residential building that collapsed on Wednesday in the country’s second largest city of Alexandria, a high-ranking civil defense official Mohammed Naser said.

An eight-storey building in Maamura, a densely populated district in Alexandria, collapsed on Wednesday morning. About 15 people were pulled alive from the rubble, all of them have been taken to the city’s hospital.

Rescue efforts have been completed after experts found out that there was zero chance of finding any more survivors, Naser said.

The building was home to 24 Egyptian families. It is unclear how many people were inside at the moment of the collapse.

Alexandria Governor Mohammed Abbas Atta said the house was built five years ago without proper authorization from the municipal authorities.

The governor said that that about a hundred of buildings in the city are believed to dangerous and require demolition. However, he added, the issue is beyond the jurisdiction of city authorities and only prosecutors can issue orders to tear buildings down.